Car coupler



May 29, 1934. w KlEsEL, JR 1,960,943

CAR COUPLER 5 S w U I N WITNESSES v INVEIY 2 N mllmmiiifzesecjir, 9/ W ATTORNEYS.

May 29, 1934. w. F. KIESEL, JR

CAR COUPLER 2 Sheets- Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 18, 1929 Z IGEH INVENTOR; William 1i Hlesal, @711,

A TTORNEYS.

WITNESSES @fiwzd Patented Maize, 1934 oAR COUPLER p William F. Kiesel, Jr., Hollidaysburg, Pa. Application February 18,1929, Serial No. 341,023

1 Claim.

My invention relates to car couplers. More particularly, the invention relates to coupler operating mechanism and constitutes an improvement over a type of uncoupling apparatus, which .5 now in common use with bottom-operated coupiers and which is described in U. S. Patents Nos.

1,639,300 and 1,639,301, to Edmund P. Kinne.

The principal object of my invention is to simplify the mechanism now used to connect the operating rod to the coupler lock and to reduce the undesired lock'lifting tendency, due to the swinging of the handle on the operating rod, when the car is in motion, to such an extent that the provision of additional means applied to the car to restrict the swinging of the handle becomes unnecessary.

A further object of the invention is to avoid excessive wear on any part of the apparatus, which would necessitate replacing the coupler head.

Other objects and advantages characteristic of the invention will become more fully apparent from the description which follows, and which has reference to, the accompanying drawings in which I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention, and whereof:

Fig. I is a side elevation, partly in section, of a standard bottom-lift type coupler embodying 'my invention, the lock being shown in locking position.

Fig. II is a similar view of the same in which the lock is shown in full knuckle throw position.

Fig. III is a top plan view of the end of a car showing the operating rod and its connection to the coupler operating mechanism.

Fig. IV is a front elevation of the coupler and operating rod.

Fig. V is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. V1 is a transverse section taken as indicated by the arrows VI--VI of Fig. I.

Fig. VII is a view from the'back of. the coupler head showing the connection between the coupler lugs and lifter arm.

Fig. VIII is an alternate form of lifter arm and operating rod connection; and

Fig. IX is an edge view of the same.

The coupler shown in the drawings being of a standard type with which those skilled in the 5 art will be familiar, and there being no invention claimed with respect to the coupler, per se, the construction and operation of the apparatus shown in Figs. I and II need only be briefly described.

The usual coupler head 1 is shown with its knuckle 2 and pin 3, the coupler head being designed to accommodate, in various positions, a lock 4 having a depending leg 5 with a diagonally arranged slot 6 therein. There is also shown the usual knuckle thrower 7, upon which a shoulder of the lock 4 rests when the coupler is in looking position as in Fig. I. When the coupler is in full knuckle throw position, as in Fig. II,

the lock 4 has been moved upward into the coupler head cavity 8, and the knuckle 2 has been opened by the knuckle thrower '7.

Depending lugs 9 on the lower part of the coupler head 1 are provided with circular openings through which a tight fitting bolt 10 is placed, the bolt 10 being held by a nut 11 and forming a bearing on which the lifter arm 12 is adapted to revolve. Accordingly, there is no wear upon the lugs 9, which are an integral part of the coupler head 1, and the bolt 10' may be easily replaced when necessary. A link 13 connects the free end of the lifter arm 12 with the lock leg 5. The link 13 ispreferably provided with pins 14 and 15, one pin 14 having a locking projection 16 which fits within a corresponding arcuate groove 17, in the lifter arm 12, and the other pin 15 fitting in the slot 6 of the lock leg 5. The projection 16 on the pin 14 merely serves to hold more securely the link 13, to prevent its sliding out of the lifter arm 12. I

An operating rod 18 is supported at the side of the car 19 by means of a bracket 20 and is provided at its outer end with a handle 21, through which a turning movement may be applied to the rod. The other end of the rod 18 is provided with an eye 22 which is loosely fitted over a ferrule 23, which in turn is clamped tightly to a rivet 24. The rivet 24 and ferrule 23 connect the rod 18 to the lifter'arm 12 intermediate its fulcrum and free ends, and the ferrule 23 serves as the bearing about which the eye 22 of the operating rod 18 is free to turn. The lifter arm 12 is hollowed at 25 to form a slot to thus accommodate the eye 22 of the operating rod 18, and the slot 25 is beveled at its edges 26, as shown in Fig. VI.

It will be apparent that by turning the handle 21 of the operating rod 18 in a counter-clockwise direction, a swinging movement will be transmitted to the lifter arm 12 causing the link 13 to thrust the coupler lock 4 upward into the cavity 8, which leaves the knuckle 2 free to swing open to the position shown in-Fig. II. The beveled edges of the slot 25 prevent any binding action between the operating rod 18 and lifter arm 12 and facilitate the uncoupling operation.

The operating rod 18 and the lifter arm 12 are readily detached from the coupler by removnate form of lifter arm 12a of webbed construction, with a circular central perforation 27. In this construction the operating rod handle 21 is passed through the perforation 27 and the lifter arm. 12a is'slid over the rod 18 to its hooked end 28, which occupies the position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. IX. The hook 28 is then clinched between lugs 29 on the bottom of the lifter arm 12a to form an eye for engagement with the lifter arm. This engagement is sufliciently loose to prevent binding, yet capable of transmitting a positive swinging movement to the lifter arm 12a.

Heretofore it has been the practice with bottom operated couplers to connect the operating rod to the lifter arm by means of a rotatable member adapted to turn in the. lugs depending from the coupler head and engaging the lifter arm by a key and slot connection at its fulcrum and, as shown and described in U. S. Patent No. 1,639,300 to Edmund P. Kinne. With such construction there is considerable wear in the depending lugs, as the operating rod is indirectly connected to the lifter arm by means of a ro- Latable member which turns in the lugs. With the novel construction of my invention herein: before described, there is no wear on any part of the coupler head and a direct connection is provided between the operating rod 18 and the prevent the handle 21 from swinging. This is true, because the weight of the operating rod 18 hangs from the center of the lifter arm, thus forcing down the free end of the lifter arm and tending to prevent lifting of the lock. The connection between the operating rod and lifter arm is such that the handle cannot swing without raising the lifter arm; and it requires more force to raise the lifter arm and look when the operating rod acts upon the lifter arm remote from its fulcrum than at its fulcrum, because, in addition to overcomingthe resistance of the lifter arm to rotation by reason of the weight of the link and lock, it is also necessary to lift the coupler end of the operating rod an appreciable distance.

While I have referred to the apparatus described as a car-coupler mechanism, the invention is, of course, adaptable toany form of rolling stock, and various modifications in the form of the apparatus shown may be effected without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the claim hereinafter set forth.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: In a car coupler operating mechanism, a lock movable in the coupler head, means for transmitting an operating movement to the coupler lock including a lifter arm pivoted at the bottom of the coupler head, and a rotatable operating rod having a handle at the side of the car, said rod being directly connected to the lifter arm intermediate the points of connection of said lifter arm to the coupler head and lock, said rod swinging bodily about a single support at the side of the car adjacent to said handle, and the connection between said operating rod and lifter arm being sufliciently positive so that any appreciable rotary movement of the one element is accompanied by a rotary movement of the other element, whereby swinging of the handle as an incident to motion of the car is substantially prevented. I

WILLIAM F. KIESEL, JR. 

